If Park Bank is liable for not spotting Sujata "Sue" Sachdeva's $34 million embezzlement from Koss Corp. and has to reimburse the company, Koss Chief Executive Michael Koss should also be ordered to personally pay the public company he runs, the bank argues in a new lawsuit.

Grant Thornton, Koss Corp.'s former auditor, should also have to pay a portion of any award that may be ordered, Park Bank argued in the latest twist in a long-running court fight stemming from Sachdeva's massive embezzlement.

"Park Bank denies any and all liability to Koss in this case," the bank said in its action. "Nevertheless, should Park Bank be found liable to Koss (Corp.) and required to pay damages to Koss, in this case, those damages will have been the result of a common liability of Park Bank, Michael Koss and Grant Thornton, thereby entitling Park Bank to (a) contribution from Michael Koss and Grant Thornton."(10)

Brewers in quandary with Mark Rogers

That's the quandary facing manager Ron Roenicke and pitching coach Rick Kranitz with Rogers, who is out of minor-league options but has struggled mightily with his command this spring.

Roenicke said Friday morning that Rogers is not on the list at present to make another start, though that could change. Roenicke said he and Kranitz are trying to figure out the best way to get the 27-year-old right-hander back on track.

"He's going to probably throw a simulated game in the next (few) days," said Roenicke. "Then, we'll re-evaluate and see what we're going to do there. We've talked to him and want to figure out what's the next step to get him back to the guy we saw last September."

Rogers has looked nothing like the pitcher who went 3-1 with a 3.92 ERA in seven starts with the Brewers late last season. In three exhibition outings, he is 0-1 with a 7.50 ERA, with eight hits, 10 runs (five earned) and 10 walks allowed in six innings, and just one strikeout. Those numbers don't include a two-inning outing against Team Canada in which Rogers issued four walks.

Making the situation even more puzzling is that Rogers' velocity has been way down from his usual norm of the mid 90s (mph).

Because Rogers is out of options, the Brewers would have to place him on waivers to send him to the minors. They figure he'd be claimed despite his command issues, so the other option is to put him in the bullpen with hopes of getting squared away there. But it's not easy to get back on track through relief work, which can be erratic.

"We've talked about that," said Roenicke. "Rick is going to do some things with him the next couple of days, and just see whether it's a minor-league game or an inning or two in relief for us. We're going to try to figure that out.

"Right now, I don't have him scheduled to start a major-league game but that's not to say he won't do it. The way he threw last year and what we all saw, he feels like he can do it. And we want to give him the opportunity to do it. But we need to get him back pitching that way before we move on with him."

Roenicke admitted that having no options in this particular case might not be advantageous for Rogers, though every player wants to be in the big leagues rather than he minors.

"Sometimes it helps a player; sometimes it hurts a player," said Roenicke. "It certainly can help a player that has great stuff and you know belongs in the major leagues. Now, the club has that decision or probably somebody else is going to grab him.

"Where it hurts is (with) the guy that loses confidence completely and needs to go down to get that confidence back. It's not really usually an injury because you can DL a guy. So, sometimes it's not to their advantage to be out of options.

"The biggest thing is let's get him right. We want to get him right and now let's figure out what we're going to do. That's what we're trying to do."

About Tom Haudricourt

Tom Haudricourt covers the Brewers and Major League Baseball. He was voted Wisconsin Sports Writer of Year for 2011 and 2012 by National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

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